care wouldn’t be covered. These are known as “nonorganic” cogni- tive disorders because they don’t have medical names. Organic cog- nitive disorders have been given names such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. Make sure that the policy you decide to purchase does cover these types of situations. Although you may think that the chances of your needing this option are small, and you may pay a higher premium because you have this coverage, it’s better to know that you have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. You may find that you have to read your policy’s fine print very carefully to determine whether nonorganic disorders are covered, but in the end it will be worth it.

WHY DI AND LTC ARE IMPORTANT

I’ve heard many excuses as to why people refuse to purchase either disability or long-term care insurance. But I have to say that for all the excuses I’ve heard, there are reasons why these types of protec- tion are important and why they need to be a part of a person’s life.

The main excuse people offer is that the insurance is too expen- sive; they just don’t want to pay money out of their pocket every month for something they might not need. Expense is definitely a concern for most people, but let’s consider the consequences of someone who fails to purchase any disability insurance. Let’s assume that my client, Bob, wants to accumulate money for his retirement. Right now he is 48 years old and, so far, has done a very good job of building up a retirement fund. He has approximately $100,000 in his 401(k) at work and about $200,000 in nonqualified accounts. One day, Bob is outside painting his house, falls off the ladder and breaks both his legs. Bob works as a truck driver and needs to be able to drive a car in order to work. Therefore, Bob is unable to work and must take time off.

He sees the human resources department of his company and arranges to take his five remaining sick days, but since the accident happened at home and he has no form of disability insurance at all, that is all the income he will receive. Bob’s doctors have told him that he will not be able to work for at least six months. Bob’s current salary is $85,000 per year. His wife also works and her salary is